BOYS’ BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Jessie Wins It, but Defense Is Key for Edison

Brandon Jessie made a layup at the buzzer to give Edison High School a 39-37 Sunset League victory over Huntington Beach Saturday night.

Jessie’s 12th and 13th points of the game decided the issue, but the Charger defense was responsible for the game-winner at Huntington Beach High.

After Jessie tied the score at 37 with a 10-foot jumper, Edison pressured the Oilers for the final 15 seconds. Finally, guards Todd Smyser and Dan Lovelady forced the Oilers into an errant pass with four seconds remaining.

Then Charger forward Steve Thobe dived for the loose ball and flipped it upcourt to Jessie, who outraced James Dingus to the hoop for the game-winner.

“They beat us with a great play, but the final 15 seconds doesn’t take away from what we did for the first 31 minutes and 45 seconds,” Oiler Coach Roy Miller said.

Even though leading scorer Mustapha Abdi (13 rebounds) had a season-low three points, Huntington Beach (8-12, 1-5 the league) dominated the third quarter to build a 31-22 lead with 52 seconds left in the quarter.

But Edison responded by outscoring the Oilers, 16-6, over the final nine minutes to avert an upset.

Steven Lucas led Huntington Beach with 13 points and nine rebounds and Bill Martineau led the Chargers with 14 points.

The victory kept Edison (15-6, 4-2) in a tie for second place in the league with Fountain Valley and Ocean View, a game behind Marina.

In other Sunset League games:

Fountain Valley 58, Ocean View 57--Adam Ziebarth scored after an offensive rebound with three seconds left to give visiting Fountain Valley (10-10, 4-2) the victory.

Marina 69, Westminster 32--Cherokee Parks had 17 points, Travis Boyd had 15 and Sean Haselrig 13 to lead host Marina (13-8, 5-1).

In the Olympic League:

Whittier Christian 60, Capistrano Valley Christian 57--Joe Konstantarakis had 20 points and Ruben Oronoz added 15 for host Whittier Christian (10-9, 6-3).

In a nonleague game:

Servite 53, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 43--Adam Anderson had 15 points and Steve Marusich had 11 to lead host Servite (11-8, 2-2).